Walsall v Salford - Match preview

Sadler was is joint charge of the team with Neil McDonald when Matt Taylor was sacked in February 2022.

This time he will go it alone for the final three games of the season where he will have the chance to put himself in the frame for the full-time position.

And according to bookmakers Bet Victor, he has a good chance as he is joint-favourite according to them, along with former Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley and ex-Crewe manager David Artell, all at odds of 6-1.

Sadler won’t be too worried about that tomorrow as he steps into the dugout without Flynn and Wayne Hatswell, both of whom left on Wednesday lunchtime.

Salford occupy the last play-off spot after Tuesday’s games and will be full of confidence against Walsall, who have won just once in 21 games. The last time the teams met it coincided with the last few hours of deadline day, when Walsall missed out on Danny Johnson but signed Matt Stevens

Stevens and Jamille Mat – who made his Saddlers’ debut in the game – have failed to reproduce the goals which saw them notch 40 between them for Forest Green last season.

Initially, injuries and a tendency for Flynn to shuffle his front line during the latter months of his reign are partly to blame for that, the pair getting a rare outing together at Harrogate on Tuesday

But hopefully Walsall will be able to play with a freedom they haven’t enjoyed in recent weeks, with a new permanent boss yet to come and unlikely to be in place until the end of the season.

Flynn had threatened that players were fighting for their futures and that some had been ‘found out’ in recent weeks.

In his parting shot, Flynn admitted he was at a loss as to what to do with some of his players, who he accused of not caring enough.

He said: “For some of the players the end of the season can’t come soon enough, not all of them, but I am beginning to see who will be here next season and who won’t.

“As staff we have dragged them through training every day and tried to prepare them well, but you can’t go out there and play for them and there are a few who think the grass is greener.

“I’m fed up, if I’m honest, because we have tried everything from a coaching point of view, psychological point of view, you name it we have tried it but it comes down to professional pride and some of them need to show more of it.

Under the temporary boss they may get the chance to wipe the slate clean in the remaining 270 minutes of action.

Or equally Sadler might heed the words of his trusted lieutenant for over 12 months and, being no fool himself, demand the same exacting standards as the likeable Welshman who has just departed.